My buddy and i ran our cars at the track this past weekend at Sac. We're both running MH 22x8x13 slicks and we noticed that our cars pulled to the right when making a pass. I had the car aligned before i went to the track and when driving with my street tires the car goes straight. I called John at MH and was told to pump both slicks up to 10 psi and measure the circumference around the center of the slick. If there's a difference in measurement between the slicks than the slick would be the culprit. They both measured at 71.5 inches and was considered good by John. I called a reputable shop and was told that the cause is torque steer. Any advice / insight would be appreciatted.

 

Our set ups are
Me: 93 Civic HB with a stock 94 JDM GSR motor, LSD, stock exhaust manifold (open header), short ram intake, and 22x8x13 MH slicks
13.571 @ 102 mph with a 1.9 60 ft
His aka Whatvtec: 93 Civic HB with built LS motor, LSD, 150 shot direct port nitrous, and 22x8x13 MH slicks
12.3 @ 119 mph with a 1.9 60 ft

 

The shop you called is right it is torque steer and the way you can beat it is to put a little more air in that side so it doesn't grab quite as hard.

 

So more psi in the slick / side that the car pulls towards? How much psi more? Any more insight on this scenerio

 

Not much try 2 psi more, that's what we did in my wife's GSR to fix it from pulling left. Left tire goes to 13 and the right goes to 11 for her car.

 

figuring u both have lsd's, my 1st thought is the unequal length half shafts is causing the pulling.

this occurs in about 99% of all fwd cars, lol. so go w/ what was said above. and keep varying until u find the right psi setup.

 

If its pulling hard then it might be that one slick is bigger than the other. After you make a run you should rotate the tires. To see if the slicks has one bigger than the other you need to measure the circumference of the tire and they should be no more than 1/4"-3/4" off. If they are get a new PAIR of slicks.

Listen to John, he has learned alot from a great person Marvin of M&H.

art

 

Thank You for the help guys. John@M&H

 

Might i say that John has been a lot of help. He called me before i got a chance to contact him about the situation. Excelent customer service.

Thanks,
John & Marvin

 

Thank You, we try to give you racer's the best service possible. Safety is # 1 John@M&H

 

What else could cause this?

I made a couple passes, and the car pulls HARD to the left. The steering column (and whole front of the car for that matter) wobbles down the track, pulling one direction.

Even after turning around (going back to the pits from picking up my slip) I have to keep the wheel cocked ~30 degrees to the right to go straight... and this is just coasting, so it can'tbe the torque steer. But, going this speed (20mph) the steering colum, etc. doesn't wobble at all. It only jumps and wobbles when I'm making a pass. Also, during the burnout the car imediateally drifts hard one direction.

I measured the tires, and they're within 1/4". Any thoughts?

 

Bogart 13x8 wheels... and the car is straight with my street tires... I can see maybe a little pull if I didnt' align it with ths slicks on.. but can it really be that bad if its straight with street tires???

 

art is right check the rollout on the tires. sometimes they are off by an ich or more and that will cause it.we had a set of MT tires that were off 2 inches. it was horrible. they should send you a new set if thats the case.you can always try a little less air in 1 tire. start 1lb at a time.

 

I measured them , and they're within 1/4" of each other... is that what the rollout is?

I'd try releasing air 1psi at a time in one tire, but its very scary to drive as it is. I almost ran into the side of the track more than once with them.

My main concern is that I only have 1 race left in the seacon... IDRC in Denver this sunday!!! I don't know how I'm going to get tires ready for that.